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Topic: Alternative Uses for Animals (Read 2762 times)

I am interested if anyone has any ideas on how I could certain parts of the animals which I don't eat such as (fur, skin, bones etc...). Currently most of what I'm left with are bones and gristle, as I haven't been able to get skin or fur. But does anyone have any good ideas on what to do with different parts of the animals you don't eat? I get a lot of bones which I eat the marrow out of, but it would be good to find an actual use for the bones.

Well, you could read up about how native americans used the whole animal.. On a more practical note, you could make bone-broths(albeit cooked, but you could make them for cooked-food-eating friends). Give the bones to a dog etc.

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"What is the point of growing up If you can't be childish sometimes..." - Tom Baker as Dr Who.

I know someone who needs fertilizer for his farm, so I think I could potentially use the leftover bones that way. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I would be able to make bone meal? I could technically cook it since it's for fertilizing the soil, but do you think it could be left raw? And would there be any benefit if it were raw as opposed to cooked, since it would only be used for the soil and not as food?

I can't see how cooked bone could be useful for the soil, let alone as food. You'd just be poisoning the worms etc.

Perhaps you could just grind up raw egg-shells?

I didn't think of using egg-shells as fertilizer, thanks for the suggestion. I do still want to potentially find a use for all my leftover bones, perhaps I could make raw bone meal. I am unsure how I would go about doing that without spending a significant amount of time on it, however.

Can't you find some solution to speed up the digestion of raw bones by bacteria/soil/worms? How about using smaller bones from animals such as chickens/mice etc.?

It's not that I specifically want to buy bones to use as fertilizer, I simply want to have a use for the beef marrow bones. I eat large amounts of bone marrow every day, from beef as that is available in the largest amounts. Because of this, I end up with a lot of bones that I just throw away.

If only I could have had the same experience re raw marrow in the UK. Maybe I am becoming too lazy...

Well, granted, I had to do quite a lot of searching to get a steady supply of large amounts of organs, including bone marrow. Bone marrow especially, as I eat potentially about 20lb/10kg of marrow bones a week. Perhaps more, depends on how much marrow is in the bone.

You do live in Austria right now, correct? I found the marrow bones I needed both online and from a local farm. I've also searched plenty of farmers' markets and other online companies and farms. I also heard that you really like the creamy marrow? I actually seem to be getting pretty lucky in that regard, as not only does the marrow taste great, but most of the marrow I get is soft, creamy, bloody kind, and I never even asked for it. Although this could be also be due to the quality of the animals, I am unsure. As when I used to buy grain-fed marrow, 99% of it was the dry and crumbly type.

If you can get hold of the raw, reddish, creamy , wettish, kind of marrow, then you are in luck. I had some difficulty when in the UK doing so. Now, in Austria, I can get hold of dry, sawdust-like raw marrow from raw wild boar/moufflon/grassfed beef

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"What is the point of growing up If you can't be childish sometimes..." - Tom Baker as Dr Who.

Even when eating raw, i still cook what is of difficult access raw. So i boild the rest of the bones. i think logical that our ancester started to use fire for this reason: to get what is difficult to eat raw.

For the soil, I can assure you that you can put boiled bones. They will be colonised little by little by the organisms of the soil. Don't bother with making meal, just add the bones to the compost, and then when you have your compost, you leave the bones for the nexxt compost, and they will be full of bactirias for helping start the next batch.

Even when eating raw, i still cook what is of difficult access raw. So i boild the rest of the bones. i think logical that our ancester started to use fire for this reason: to get what is difficult to eat raw.

For the soil, I can assure you that you can put boiled bones. They will be colonised little by little by the organisms of the soil. Don't bother with making meal, just add the bones to the compost, and then when you have your compost, you leave the bones for the nexxt compost, and they will be full of bactirias for helping start the next batch.

While in a survival situation I'm certain that could be useful, I do not personally intend to eat things cooked which I cannot eat raw. Nor do I intend to eat any cooked food at all, as over time I've come to the conclusion that I should only be eating what I do best on and not eat something that will give me problems later on. If that works for you, then great.

Yes I do not have a good access to the food Ii would like to eat, and when I eat my guinea pigs, this is just so much work that I want to eat all! The skin is a big part ofr example. then the bones are small....

Also, I do need the colagen broth to help hydrate me with the use of the gelatine. This is the only animal product that is helpful for this,as plants offer more possibilities.

Yes I do not have a good access to the food Ii would like to eat, and when I eat my guinea pigs, this is just so much work that I want to eat all! The skin is a big part ofr example. then the bones are small....

Also, I do need the colagen broth to help hydrate me with the use of the gelatine. This is the only animal product that is helpful for this,as plants offer more possibilities.

Xisca, what animals do you eat? I'm sure you could probably get better access if you look around, usually you will be surprised what you can find online, at farmers' markets, at farms, certain shops etc... For your guinea pigs, are the bones small enough to be eaten raw? Although I haven't tried skin myself, I would imagine that would be quite tough to eat raw...

Regarding hydration, I find raw eggs, the hemoglobin from organs and the myoglobin from muscle, along with blood to be quite hydrating.

Where do you order your marrow from online? Inconsistent in my own experiences finding creamy vs chalky.

Depends on where you live. As for me, I haven't had a problem getting creamy marrow from literally anywhere, whether it be farmers' markets, online, directly from farms, different shops etc... As long as it's grass-fed/wild game it's always been about 25-50% of the marrow, while the rest is the chalky kind. Although even that is usually quite good, especially if it's bloody. Just had some great bloody marrow today, I'd say that really added a cake like taste to the marrow. Delicious.

I will ask where you live, however? Perhaps you aren't getting it from the right sources. Either that or the conditions for grass-fed/wild game animals might be different (different plants or animals (if you are eating predators), different soil quality etc...). And if you haven't yet tried, I definitely recommend going to farmers' markets or to the farms themselves (either that or wild game, but I have not been able to personally get any organs from wild game). You can also search for a good source online, if you can find one that provides consistently good marrow.